


Divided we fall

by Cirilla9



Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Biblical References, Canon-Typical Violence, Cultural Differences, Dark!Heahmund, Deception, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Lovers, Kinda, Knifeplay, M/M, Religious Discussion, elements of humor, everyone is a dick, yay it's not all bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 10:47:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13293192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cirilla9/pseuds/Cirilla9
Summary: Ivar goes epicurean, Heahmund plays a proper Samson against Philistines and Hvitserk is there for plot and talk interludes.





	1. Chapter 1

\- How is your idea of free will relatable to the unlimited power of your god? – asked Ivar over the chess board.

\- What do you mean?

\- I’m just wondering and it brings only contradictions, - said the young Viking, holding up a pawn, thinking. - If your god is all-knowing he shall prevent people from committing sins. But he lets them do evil things. Why is that? He cannot stop them or doesn’t want to stop them? If he cannot, he’s not all mighty, if he doesn’t want to, he’s not that good as you persist he is.

Ivar placed his black figure on the board and rested his chin on his hands, watching Heahmund intently instead of paying attention to the game. The bishop answered before making his own move.

\- He could stop all evil from happening and one day He will: at the day the world will end. Till this day we shall do our best to follow His rules in order to salve our souls.

\- He could, you say, but why won’t he do it? Why he lets evil happening?

\- He doesn’t allow evil, He just leaves people free choice. He gave us Commandments to help us make the right choices, take decisions in accordance to them. If the Lord had taken away the choice from us, what would it matter what we do? Our lives only have meaning if we decide ourselves what to do. If we chose correctly, there will be praise in Heaven, if not – we’ll burn in Hell.

\- How do you know all this? – asked Hvitserk from his far corner and received two stares in answer, one furious, the other calm.

\- It was written in the Holy Bible, the word from God himself, - explained Heahmund. – It is just in the very beginning, in the story about Eve and lost Paradise.

Hvitserk, seemingly oblivious to sparks in Ivar’s heated gaze, returned to drinking. The game between the two, the Christian and the Viking, was resumed as well. After some time of playing, when Ivar was painfully aware of his close defeat, he decided he needed a little diversion.

\- So who’s Eve?

\- Huh? – Heahmund sounded confused.

\- You mentioned her and the paradise.

\- Oh, Eve is the first woman, the mother of a humankind, the reason people were expelled from Paradise.

\- How is that?

\- She was seduced by a serpent to pick the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She tasted it and shared with her husband Adam. It was the first sin ever committed. They made a wrong use of their free will and were punished by the God.

Ivar smirked.

\- Why should the god punish for acquiring knowledge?

\- The punishment was for disobeying him, for succumbing to the temptation of the devil which wore the disguise of a snake.

\- So Eve befriended the snake and got kicked out from Heaven just like you befriended me and got excluded from England.

\- I didn’t got excluded, - protested Heahmund. – You’ve kidnapped me. That wasn’t my choice, maybe the will of God, whose plans I don’t understand fully yet.

\- God’s will or fate, - snorted Hvitserk from the background. -  Different names, the same meaning. You do believe just like us, bishop.

Ivar whirled around and lashed out before Heahmund had a chance to answer anything.

\- Will you fucking shut up?! Nobody asked you.

Hvitserk chuckled, a little drunkenly.

\- I cannot sit here and watch in silence as you two get so affectionate with each other.

\- Then get out! Scram, dog!

Hvitserk’s mirth disappeared, his jaw clenched. The brothers stared at each other for a while, the guards in the hall straightened to attention. Finally Hvitserk took his cup and went out, followed by Ivar’s hateful stare.

Heahmund kept quiet as he watched the whole exchange alertly. If the brothers, even those who stayed at the same side of the conflict among heathens, argued between themselves, it was a weakness the bishop felt obliged to use. He might be among pagans and even take part in their war but he couldn’t forget he was among his enemies, Christian faith’s enemies. The God surely put him here in some purpose, perhaps he was to take down all this lair of wickedness, destroy their world as Samson destroyed Philistines’ city, burying himself under the ruins with the corpses of his enemies. Thus, Heahmund payed close attention to all the signs of any dissent among his unasked for hosts.

 

* * *

 

 

\- …as two armies faced each other a great warrior from the enemies forces, Goliath, challenged the people of God to appoint one fighter to a single combat against him. Victory of the war was at stake, the army of the defeated warrior was expected to surrender. The challenger was a mighty man, a giant, so King Saul was hesitant to agree to these conditions. But a young soldier from his troops volunteered. David was his name. By God’s will, he won with a single hurl of a stone from his sling.

Ivar huffed an amused breath over his supper. They sat in the privacy of Ivar’s room, a table with two cups and plates between them. The tableware looked very suspiciously like straight from a church’s altar.

\- Are you suggesting I’m that weak compared to Lagertha’s army?

Though reluctantly, Heahmund had to admit the boy’s intelligence was surprising to him sometimes. Ivar always understood his meaning immediately and could phrase all his comparisons into a simple sentence, got straight to the point. Although the boy wasn’t taught in the Word of God, he was more comprehensive talk companion than any of the people Heahmund knew in England.

\- I can do far more than throwing stones and that bitch is hardly a giant, - continued Ivar meanwhile. - Perhaps Björn could pass for one but I’ll defeat him too. I’ve got the best sword now.

Ivar grinned as Heahmund grimaced at the mention of his weapon. That blade was supposed to serve the Christian God, the only God, he corrected himself quickly. Though it wasn’t used, at least for now, against Christians and that thought was comforting.

\- I was rather suggesting that the numbers aren’t everything that matters in a military conflict. Strategy, the right planning, prediction of the enemies’ movements are of greater importance.

Ivar brightened up and patted Heahmund in the arm.

\- So you’re taking up my offer to help me with that!

Heahmund couldn’t help his answering half-smile.

\- I’m glad to hear that.

Ivar’s hand stayed on Heahmund’s shoulder a bit too long. The Viking took it off only as Heahmund’s eyes slid to where he was touching. There was something strange in Ivar’s behavior sometimes, in the way he looked at Heahmund or talked to him as if confiding in him, being too honest, exposing himself. It wouldn’t be unusual if Ivar was the type for that kind of intimacy with anyone but the young heathen tended to keep his secrets only to himself, guarding his schemes jealously, not sharing them even with his brother or most trusted warriors. Heahmund had an impression he became Ivar’s second in command in an astonishingly short time. It looked like there was no one Ivar was closer to than him at the moment. Even his biggest ally, King Harald, the ruler of the village they stayed in, wasn’t receiving any real recognition from Ivar. And the way Ivar reacted at the news of Harald’s woman being pregnant…

\- What is it about you and women? – asked Heahmund one of the questions that answered to would add a little more information to the puzzle Ivar was for him. – I never saw you with any-

It was out of context from their conversation and from the sudden change in Ivar’s face, Heahmund knew he made a mistake even before the knife was pressed to his skin and the vessels were flying down as Ivar leaned over the table.

\- And what is it about Christians and women, huh? – asked Ivar, face twisted in anger, eyes blazing with it. – Why don’t you have any goddesses, why your women can’t fight with a sword or practice magic? Why do you have places where there are only men, wearing dress-like gowns?

\- These places are sacrificed to the God, - said Heahmund, slowly breathing out, trying to calm the other man with his voice, not making any sudden movements to retreat or defend himself. – There are places like that for women as well. These people are called monks and nuns and they choose to serve the Lord first and only, they eschew carnal pleasures to sacrifice their whole lives only to the God.

Heahmund’s self-control seemed to have worked, the knife wasn’t a threat anymore, the cold steel just roamed idly upon his throat and chin.

\- Are you like that, too? – Ivar’s eyes traced the blade, not looking straight into Heahmund’s eyes.

\- No. I’m a bishop.

Ivar rolled his eyes.

\- That I know. I’m asking about that chastity.

Heahmund swallowed, casted his eyes down in a shame as fleeting as a memory. When he raised them, Ivar was leaning very close to his face and when he spoke, Heahmund could feel his breathe upon his lips.

\- Have you never kissed a woman, bishop? Have you never put a hand on woman’s body? Have you never pleasured her like a man?

Heahmund’s stare hardened.

\- I was about to ask you the same.

Anger lighted Ivar’s eyes once more but the knife didn’t pierce Heahmund’s trachea. It was dangerous to taunt the young Viking, the man was like a wild beast, just as savage and just as uncontrollable. Yet now there was something else too, like a child’s defiance.

\- You think I can’t? I’ll show you, – breathed Ivar and kissed him.

Heahmund answered automatically, moving his lips along Ivar’s, licking with his tongue even, uncaring of the sharp blade still resting between their necks, until he realized what he was doing. He fell back.

\- Don’t you turn away from me.

Ivar reached with his free hand for him, resting his weigh upon the one holding a knife. Fingers grabbed Heahmund’s shirt and pulled the bishop closer. Ivar fell upon him like a starved wolf, kissing, sucking and biting.

The initial resolution of fighting back evaporated from Heahmund’s mind, replaced by a sinful desire. Succumbing to the devil’s incitements, or maybe the devil’s incarnation himself, he grabbed Ivar by the arms and pulled him closer, scattering the rest of the things that remained yet on the table.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: the end of the chapter is rather depressing so you might want to stop reading a bit earlier, somewhere along where the smut ends

As Heahmund hauled Ivar to his place, the chair didn’t bear their joined weighs and with a loud crack of splintering wood they landed on the floor among all the litter. Heahmund hissed as he landed on all the wooden bits, Ivar’s body atop of his.

Suddenly the doors to the room banged open and a Viking with a posture of a giant appeared, his face concerned and eyes searching Ivar.

\- My prince, are you all right? We’ve heard struggle.

Ivar raised himself a bit higher, digging his hand painfully in Heahmund’s chest to do that, the other palm, still miraculously holding a knife, was put to Heahmund’s throat.

\- Get out, you fool! – barked Ivar at his bodyguard. – I’m perfectly able to handle him myself. Do not disturb us.

Heahmund held his tongue only that long as the doors slammed closed behind the man again.

\- Handle me? Am I  your slave?

Ivar leaned down and licked the trace of blood he accidently did with the knife on Heahmund’s throat. The bishop shuddered.

\- No, - whispered Ivar to his ear, before grazing his ear shell. – Have I not taken away the chains? Given you a choice to fight for me?

Heahmund smirked.

\- You talk like you’re beginning to believe in a free will.

\- What it was that drove you to me, hm? Fate designed by gods or your own choice?

Ivar kissed him again, not waiting for the answer. Lying on the floor, with a creature too attractive to be purely godly creation, lost in carnal sensations, Heahmund found that he liked it more than he should. There was fur near them, he realized and tried to roll them both there but met Ivar’s resistance, expressed by teeth and a knife blade.

\- I told you not to get away from me, - hissed Ivar.

\- I’m not going anywhere… - Heahmund grabbed Ivar’s wrist that held the knife, and, using the advantage of having two healthy strong legs whereas Ivar had useless limbs, flipped them both over, rolling with the trashing Viking to the targeted fur. – At least not without you.

Ivar’s annoyed expression softened at his words but still the boy managed to get the upper hand somehow and soon he was straddling Heahmund, cutting his shirt off him. The blade touched the skin, but did not pierce it, leaving just goosebumps in its wake.

Arousal mixed with the danger of having the mad Viking on top of him, equipped with a knife he could use just as easily to stab his heart as to what he was doing. It was an exhilarating combination and Heahmund’s flesh reacted in no time.

Ivar smiled brightly and slid unarmored hand there, opening Heahmund’s laces.

\- I think you’re not that pure in the eyes of your god, bishop.

Heahmund wanted to riposte with some scathing retort but then Ivar’s hand closed around his manhood and he just gasped in pleasure, his eyes rolling backward. In the corner of his eye he noticed the moon and stars behind the high window.

He reached with his hand to Ivar’s trousers to return the favor as he was still able to think and act but Viking’s words stopped him.

\- No, don’t. Lay down, - the tone wasn’t a threat but followed by the knife once more pressing to his throat it gained another meaning.

Ivar’s other hand was still stroking his hardness, invoking deeper and deeper waves of arousal. Heahmund tried to lay still, conscious of the knife hovering just above his skin but he couldn’t stop his hips from rocking into the rhythm Ivar’s hand dictated.

\- I could- - he tried once more.

\- Shh.

Ivar leaned down to silence him with a kiss and with that Heahmund came with a grunt. When he opened his eyes, blue ones stared at him and Ivar smiled in the obvious self-satisfaction.

The boy wiped his seed covered hand in Heahmund’s slid down trousers. The bishop growled, lacking the strength to be more eloquent for now.

Ivar laughed, let go of him and crawled to the bed, before hauling himself up and burying in the pile of furs and skins there.

\- You may sleep in my bed tonight, - came the still smug voice.

Heahmund wanted to reject the haughty proposition with equally proud words but thought better of it. He stood up, done his clothes to order as much as it was possible – the shirt was in shreds so he ended up half naked – and joined the arrogant boy he had tied his fate with.

As he laid down next to the man that had captured him and taken far away from his homeland, the source of his continual sin, in mind and in body, wide awake while the heathen seemed to be asleep, he wondered if killing him would be an expected good deed in the eyes of God.

But the boy was the only thing between himself and death and he would soon follow him into the afterlife if he did so. Then Ivar moved and Heahmund realized he wasn’t sleeping yet.

He thought about different passages from Bible than the ones he told Ivar about this day.

The boy was obviously a temptation for him and he succumbed to him again and again but maybe he could use his own weakness to the glory of God? Heahmund’s weakness was at the same time Ivar’s for the youth wanted him visibly. Was it not Heahmund’s obligation, as a Christian surrounded by heathens, to bring destruction upon them? And Jesus words showed him the way how to do it.  

_Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall._

Heathen’s kingdom, if their society deserved that name, was already divided, war between Ragnar’s sons was about to begin in less than a month. But Heahmund could drive this division further, stretch it upon the part of Ragnar’s house he had access to. Ivar and Hvitserk were already arguing, King Harald had great ambitions, conflicting with Ragnarssons’ purposes, and Ivar looked down on him. Ivar was drawn to him almost without any additional encouragement from Heahmund. Things were already heading the right way, to everyone’s demise, only a gentle push here and there could accelerate the process.

Maybe that were God’s plans toward him. He will be His warrior, always, even now.

Then Ivar spoke up as if on cue, handing him new perfect tools to fulfill his intentions. The heathen’s voice was quiet but clearly heard into the silent room.

\- Mother was the only woman which loved me...

There it was again, this honest tender voice of someone so young and inexperienced. Heahmund wondered yet again what it was that make Ivar make such confessions to him.

\- Other women fear me, even slave girls… but you, you’re different.

The realization hit him with all its simplicity. All Ivar wanted was to be loved but not by just anyone, by someone he could respect. From what he spoke there were very few such persons in his life and he saw one like that in Heahmund now. All Ivar craved was admiration and warm feelings.

Could it really be that simple? It was as if the God handed him everything Heahmund needed to win over heathens. Wasn’t it like a sign from Him and Heahmund, like His good servant, could only obediently follow the appointed path?

\- Yes, Ivar, - he said. – I do not fear you.

Ivar seemed to smile at that but it could be a trick of moonlight spilling inside through the window above their heads.

Laying shoulder to shoulder, a Viking and a Christian, slowly drifted asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not how it was supposed to be. I wanted to be a little more original than writing down the whole seven episode and from sweet it turned sour. Oops. And I don't know how (if) to fix it.


End file.
